More Than Just Beauty
by Teliamac
Summary: Jemima. . .yeah. Chapter 2 up (finally!)
1. 1

Disclaimer: I don't own CATS- (well, actually I own two, but they're not of the musical sort) rights and all that jazz belong to RUG, ALW, TSE, etc. So don't sue. Unless you want some toenail clippers and other assorted junk.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
More Than Just Beauty  
  
  
  
"It's ok, she's alright." The voice was -or seemed- distant; it was fuzzy, yet comforting. Who was it?  
  
"A girl, then? What about the other one?" There were two voices; the second was closer, and sounded out of breath.  
  
The first voice spoke again. "He- didn't make it. I'm sorry." She was sad. Why was she sad?  
  
"Well, do with it what needs to be done then, Jenny. I'll take this one." So the first voice was Jenny.  
  
The kitten could feel the teeth of the owner of the second voice -apparently it was mother- grip around her neck. Half of her body was lifted from the ground when Jenny spoke again. "She needs milk before-"  
  
The second voice sounded agitated. "Right, right." The kitten was returned to the ground. She was hungry and quickly found her way to food. When she reached it, she drank greedily.  
  
"What are you going to do?" It was Jenny again. The kitten liked her- she sounded very sweet, probably a good mother. But she wasn't mother; the second voice was. The kitten liked her too, she was warm and smelled good. And she had milk.  
  
"I don't know. Take care of her. It is my duty, isn't it?" Mother sounded less upset now, but strangely weak.  
  
"She needs a name."  
  
"Why don't you name her, Jenny? I can't do it."  
  
"You're her mother. All of your kittens have had fine names."  
  
"You and Jellylorum named most of them. And I'm just too. . .tired."  
  
"Well. . .how about. . ." The kitten stopped drinking for a moment. She was about to get a name. "Jemima?"  
  
Mother sighed. "Jemima, yes. You see, you've always been good at naming."  
  
Jenny laughed. "The naming of cats is a difficult matter," she said, then grew serious again. "Are you going to be alright? You look-"  
  
"I'll be fine." But she didn't sound fine. "You go home. You've got your own kittens to worry about." She chuckled weakly. "How are Electra and Tumblebrutus doing?"  
  
"They're fine. You two rest; I'm going back. Goodnight." The kitten could here soft footsteps receeding into the background.  
  
Mother sighed again. "Jemima. Oh, what am I supposed to do with a kitten?" She stood, and the kitten felt herself being lifted again. She could do with some more milk. . . Jemima. She had a name. She continued to think about it as she dangled from Mother's teeth, traveling someplace. She began to grow sleepy, and her eyes started to droop. She wasn't hungry anymore, just tired and happy to have her name. Jemima.  
  
*****  
  
Jemima awoke, opening her eyes and seeing the world for the very first time. It was sunny, and piles of junk rose up around her on all sides. She was warm. . .but not the right kind of warm. She had been wrapped in a blanket. Where was mother?  
  
She sat up and looked around. There was junk everywhere, but there didn't appear to be another cat for miles around.  
  
"I'm hungry." Jemima whimpered to herself. "What am I gonna do?" She decided to give in to her instincts, and started mewing as loudly as her little voice would allow.  
  
After what felt like ages, Jemima gave up. She was going to starve, she knew it. She was too little to just get up and find her own food. She didn't even know what food was. . . besides milk.  
  
A cold wind picked up. Jemima could do nothing but curl up in her blanket and try to stay warm. By now, she'd given up hope. She knew good and well that she was too small to stand an inkling of a chance out there, alone with no survival skills whatsoever (she may have been born the day before, but she wasn't stupid). She'd probably die. . .but at least she was warm enough, for now.  
  
Just as she was about to fall asleep -or pass out, one of the two-, Jemima heard someone talking. It was a deeper voice; she'd never heard anything like it. Then again, she'd never heard much at all. It was singing.  
  
". . .the Jellicle moon is shining bright. . ."  
  
The voice was getting closer. What was a Jellicle moon?  
  
". . .Jellicles come to the Jellic- huh?" The singing stopped, and Jemima heard footsteps. Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted off the ground, and the blanket was pulled back from her head.  
  
"Heaviside! What are you doin' out here, little one? Let's get you t' the junkyard, where it's safe." An orange and white face looked down at Jemima, green eyes meeting her brown ones. "Jenny'll know what t' do."  
  
*Jenny? I know Jenny.* The tiny queen mewed, happy and relieved. This orange guy was nice, and he knew Jenny too.  
  
"I'm Skimbleshanks. Skimble t' you, little one." Jemima let out a soft, kitten-like giggle. Skimble talked funny. But that didn't matter, because she knew he and Jenny would keep her safe.  
  
*****  
  
Jemima had fallen asleep, but when she awoke she was inside. . .something. She heard noise in the background- and Jenny! Jenny was talking! Jemima mewed so the old queen would know she was up.  
  
"Well, I was beginning to wonder when you would wake, darling." Jenny smiled. "You must be starving."  
  
"You- you're Jenny."  
  
"Well, yes dear, I am." The old queen looked surprised as she placed a dish of cream near Jemima. "How did you know that?"  
  
"You were there. . ." She slowly began drinking the cream. "I remember your vioce."  
  
"Well, I never. Skimble, she remembers me!"  
  
Skimbleshanks walked in, fastening a bell to his collar. It tinkled a bit, and Jemima giggled.  
  
"Like the bell, do you?" He turned to Jenny. "Have you seen my watch around?"  
  
"The way you run those trains, I was sure you were so organized." The adults laughed. "Under you're blanket, I'm sure." Skimbleshanks exited. "Skimble rides on trains. They're big fast things that carry humans far distances. Would you like more cream, Jemima?"  
  
"No, thank you." Jemima liked Jenny very much. She was right- Jenny was a very good mother. Which remined her. . ."Where's Mother?" 


	2. 2

CH 2.  
  
A/N: I should never have written a fic with chapters. I'm not motivated enough. So, I'm skipping ahead in time a wee bit. Here's a summary of what would've happened if I started from where I last left off- Jenny and Skimble explaied that they didn't know what happened to Jemima's mother, but they would take care of her. She met Electra and Tumblebrutus, they took to her pretty quick...not so much as siblings but...yeah. So there ya go. I'm starting now where Jemi (and the other kittens) really start interacting, the morning of a Ball.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"There they are, over by the oven!" Electra exclaimed.  
  
She, Tumblebrutus, and Jemima were venturing out without their parents for the first time. They were excited and a tiny bit scared, but that was to be expected. They were itty bitty kittens and it was a big junkyard.  
  
They were looking for their friends whom they had met previously when they were all out with their parents. Electra had spotted Etcetera, Pouncival, and their other slightly older friends Victoria and Mistoffelees, who were siblings.  
  
Etcetera was bouncing as they approached. "The Ball's tonight! The Ball's tonight! How exciting!"  
  
"Too bad we're too young to go. . ." Jemima sighed wistfully. "Victoria, Misto- you two are old enough. Are you going?"  
  
They blinked. Misto tilted his head. "Without you guys? Nah. I don't know about you, Vicki, but I think I'm just gonna hang out behind the scenes."  
  
Victoria nodded. "Yeah, we'll stay with you guys."  
  
"Oh!" Electra piped in suddenly. "We could watch. We could creep around like those- those- you know, that human guy or whatever-" she bagan darting and leaping about. "-with red skin stuff and he jumps around and climbs-"  
  
"Spiderman?"  
  
All seven little cats jumped at the sound of Tugger's voice. Etcetera imediately began swooning. Pouncival and Tumblebrutus looked at one another, trying unsuccessfully to stiffle laughter.  
  
Yeah." Electra giggled. "Spiderman."  
  
"You're so smart, Tuggie." Etcetera purred, gazing up at him.  
  
"Aren't you kittens a little young to be acting like this?" Tugger asked, patting the little queens on their heads.  
  
"Well, Tugger, you know how it is." Tumble said, trying his best to sound grown up. "Kittens nowadays, they're maturing faster."  
  
"I'll say. . ." Tugger eyed the bunch warily, then noticed Bombalurina beckoning him over to the tire. "Be seein' ya, then." He scampered away.  
  
"One day that'll be us." Victoria reassured her fellow females. "We'll be sexy like Bomba an' all that."  
  
"That'll be the day." Pounce muttered. Etcetera bit his tail.  
  
*****  
  
The Ball had been going on for about half an hour and nothing interesting had happened. The kittens were thinking about turning in, when something caught Jemima's attention. An older queen had just wandered into the 'yard. Jemima was intrigued by this nameless queen. She'd never seen her before, yet felt drawn to her somehow. She looked older, and her reception was, well, a little awkward. Some of the older Jellicles seemed to accept her and like her, but others shunned her. Whoever she was, she wasn't there for long.  
  
"Who's that?" Etcetera appeared beside Jemima suddenly, scaring her.  
  
"I don't know, but why are they being mean to her?" Jemima couldn't tear her gaze away from where the grizzled queen had been standing.  
  
Pouncival came up behind them, Tumble as well. "I heard about her. She's bad. She used to be really cool and everybody liked her, but she went an' did bad things with that Macavity-"  
  
"Eeeewww! She's like, old enough to be his MOTHER!!!" Electra pretented to vomit.  
  
"Yeah, I think that's why they don't like her."  
  
"That's like. . .she RAPED him, instead of him doing it to, like, Demeter."  
  
"Leccy," Tumble said seriously, "Mom says we're not supposed to talk about that."  
  
"Oh. Right."  
  
Jemima hadn't said anything, she just kept staring. She couldn't believe that a kind looking queen like that would do something so- so gross. She didn't have time to ponder, however; the kittens had to leave their present hiding area lest they be discovered by Skimble, who had meant to keep an eye on the seven of them.  
  
"Ya know, maybe we should just all go to bed now." Victoria's voice rang out in the darkness. "It's late and- well, we don't want to get into trouble."  
  
Agreement came from most of the other kittens, except Etcetera. "But it's fun." She yawned.  
  
"We're all sleepy."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
They all began heading off to their homes and beds, whispering goodnights.  
  
But Jemima couldn't sleep. She lay curled up between Electra and Tumble, thinking about the old queen she had watched. Why did she feel so drawn to her? What was the connection? The tired kitten thought about these things as she eventually -slowly- drifted off to sleep.  
  
******  
  
Weeks later, Jemima still had the old scraggly queen on her mind. She had asked several adults in the 'yard about her, but they were all quite vague; they wouldn't even tell Jemi what the queen's name was. It frustrated her.  
  
The other kittens provided every possible distraction, but even their games weren't enough to hold Jemima's attention for long. Her mind would wander. . .constantly puzzling over the mysterious stranger. (a/n: hmm. that's kinda cheesy.) She wanted to know everything she could about the nameless queen, thinking she never would. But then one day:  
  
"Okay Etcy, you take this end of the string and go stand by that box. Jemi- "  
  
"You sure about this, Tumble?"  
  
"Huh? Yeah, I see human kids doing it all the time. Jemi, you take the other end and stand- Jemi? Jem? Jemima. . .?"  
  
"She's doing it again."  
  
"Yeah, I know."  
  
"JEMI!" *CLAP*  
  
She'd been daydreaming about the queen again. Tumblebrutus was in the middle of trying to teach the kittens how to jump rope, and Jemima kept zoning out. When Pounce clapped, it startled her. "What? Oh, uh. . .sorry."  
  
"You wanna play, or what?"  
  
"Um, actually, I think I'm gonna sit this one out. Maybe go for a walk."  
  
"Ya know, Jemi, you're one of my best friends and all, but lately you're kinda bringin' us all down. Or something."  
  
"Oh Etcy, I'm so sorry. I- I- I know I've been weird lately, it's just, I'm. . .I dunno. I'm sorry." Jemima stammered out an apology.  
  
"It's okay, just. . ." Electra sighed. "Do what you have to do. Find out about this queen, or whatever. Get back to your normal self, however you need to."  
  
"Yeah. . .I'll see you guys later." Jemima turned. She was going to go for a walk, but she wasn't sure hwere. *I guess I'll just wander around.*  
  
*****  
  
"I think I might be lost. . ." Jemima whispered quietly to herself. As much as she hated to admit it, it was the truth. She had been walking for a few hours, and she'd ended up in an alley, somewhere in the seedier part of town. Alley cats dug throug metal garbage cans, dirty pollicles roamed the streets, and the buildings were horribly old and decrepit. "Please let me get out of here safely. . ."  
  
Jemima turned a corner and sopped dead in her tracks. There were two cats -queens- sitting just beneath an pile of wet cardboard boxes. Actually, only one was standing. The other was laying down, and she looked like she was in pain. "E-Excuse me?" No harm in taking a small risk. . .  
  
The queens slowly turned their heads toward the frightened kitten. Jemima gasped- the queen on the ground was the one from the junkyard! The other one was younger, but probably a sister or daughter considering the resemblance. "Yes, little one? Are you lost?" The younger queen asked.  
  
"Well, yeah- are you alright? You're the queen I saw at the Ball a few weeks ago." She didn't know any other way to say it.  
  
"Oh, darling. Forget about me, I'm nothing. Nobody."  
  
"You just go now and find your way home."  
  
"But- I- Who are you? Why were so many of the grown-ups so mean to you? Will you come back?" Jemi had so many questions.  
  
Both queens sighed. The younger one answered. "Her name is Chailuck. I'm Grizabella. That's all you need to know."  
  
"You both have very nice names." She didn't want to go.  
  
Chailuck coughed. "What's your name, little one?" She smiled, her eyes sparkling a dark chocolate color.  
  
"I'm Jemima."  
  
They gasped. Grizabella spoke. "Jemima?" She looked at Chailuck. "Your Jemima?"  
  
"No, not my Jemima. Jenny's."  
  
"What? You know Jenny? She raised me. What do you mean, 'your Jemima?'" She was trembling, knowing what was to come.  
  
"I'm your mother, darling." 


End file.
